


Plum Cousin

by Livvy_Nicklaus



Category: Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich
Genre: F/M, Good Boyfriend Morelli, Good Friend Ranger, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 19:42:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4889659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livvy_Nicklaus/pseuds/Livvy_Nicklaus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie Plum's mysterious cousin moves to Trenton and she partners up with Steph. Joe Morelli and Steph are at an extremely serious point in their relationship and Ranger is her best friend, not a romantic interest. Will her cousin and Ranger hit it off? Steph hopes so.</p><p> </p><p>I'm taking a break from this fic, might come back to it if there is any interest from readers. xox</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Plum or any of the characters in the Stephanie Plum series, that honour belongs to Janet Evanovich who is the most amazing author; I own nothing in the Plum universe except Angel.
> 
> First time writing anything so please read and review. Based around the early twenties in the book series when Stephanie and Morelli are quite serious and Ranger isn’t so much a romantic interest just a good friend, veers off on its own a bit.
> 
> Rated explicit for language and smut.

**CHAPTER ONE**

 

I gave a big sigh when I opened the FTA packet and the charge was assault and battery. These are usually the worst skips to deal with. My name’s Stephanie Plum and I work as a Bond Enforcement Agent for my cousin Vinnie, the weasel. An FTA or Failure to Appear is a person who is being charged with a criminal offence and has failed to appear in court, so my job is to hunt them down and bring them back to the police station to reschedule their courting hearing and get bonded back out again. Business was slow at the moment and since I had caught and delivered all my other FTAs earlier in the week I had no choice but to take this new FTA. Thomas Cooper had been charged with assault and battery against his girlfriend, I looked at the photo of a heavily muscled gangbanger type with plenty of tattoos and piercings. He looked mean and I wasn’t keen to go up against him.

“Why didn’t Vinnie give this one to Ranger?” I ask Connie the Bail Bonds receptionist and our resident Betty Boop.

“Ranger only takes high income FTAs now and this guy comes in under his threshold with only a $2000 recovery.” Connie replied while I tried not to stare at her moustache moving, thought I would be used to it by now but no. “Although it’s an assault and battery charge the asshole didn’t use any weapons when he beat his girlfriend so he’s not classed as extremely dangerous.”

“Shit” I stated looking around the office, “where’s Lula? She’s usually here by mid-morning.” Lula is the office file clerk and my sometimes partner for difficult cases. She’s a plus-size black woman whose clothing preferences veer into petite bright spandex, so it wasn’t like I could miss her.

“She called in sick yesterday and again this morning, she thinks it’s the flu.” Connie eyed me up and down, noting my twitching body. “You nervous? We can get someone else to pick him up if you don’t want to.”

“No” I deny, “I just think it would be nice to have some back up. Anyway it’s probably best to go after this guy early in the morning when he’s still hungover so I’ll see if Lula’s feeling better tomorrow and can help me out.”

“No waiting!” A voice yelled out from behind the office door, Vinnie aka my weasel-worm cousin, stuck his head out the door, “You’ll go get him now while it’s still fresh and he hasn’t run off somewhere.”

“Fine.” I huff as I stomp out the door to the parking lot and get in Big Blue my Grandma’s '53 powder blue Buick that Uncle Sandor left her. I hated Big Blue but the damn car was virtually indestructible and since all my other cars had been destroyed it was the only option I had for the moment.

Just as I was plugging Cooper’s address into the GPS my phone started ringing, happy for any reason to delay I answered my mother’s call in an extremely cheerful voice. “Hi Mother! How are you?”

“Is that you Stephanie?” my mother replied very suspiciously, to be fair I didn’t normally answer her calls so happily, usually it was the complete opposite.

“Yes it’s me, who else could it be?”

“I don’t know but you sound different.” My mother seemed to shake herself out of her shock at my tone. “Anyway I’m not sure if you remember but your cousin Angelica is arriving in town today and I thought you would come to dinner. Remember cousin Angelica on your Grandma Mazur’s side? Well you haven’t seen her for 20 years but she’s moving to New Jersey so we’re going to have her for dinner. It would be nice if you could be there, your sister and Albert and the girls will all be there too.”

I winced at my phone weighing up the pros and cons of going to dinner, not sure I could handle all my family tonight, but it was a good excuse to put off going after Cooper till tomorrow when Lula would be able to help.

“I’ve made pineapple upside down cake for dessert.” My mother wheedled sensing my hesitation.

“Alright I’ll be there in an hour.” I replied as I sucked in my belly wishing I hadn’t worn jeans today. “Do you need me to pick up anything?”

There was silence on the end of the phone as my mother came to the realisation that I was being helpful.

“No thank you dear, just make sure you aren’t covered in garbage or tomato sauce or Vaseline please. Wouldn’t want to scare off Angelica, she could be such a good friend for you, she was a cheerleader in high school you know, and in college.”

Of course my mother rates someone who was a cheerleader as good friend material, my experience with cheerleaders was of beautiful, perfect barbies who never did anything embarrassing or unusual, so the complete opposite of me. We said our good byes and headed off towards my parents’ house in the Burg, it would take at least an hour in the end of the work day rush hour traffic.

I was half way there sitting in honking traffic, using the array of Italian hand gestures I’d been taught growing up in Trenton to express my displeasure at the inept drivers I was surrounded by when Morelli called. Morelli is my on/off boyfriend who was decidedly in the on position right now and had been for the past few months, our longest stretch yet. At the beginning of this go we’d had a serious conversation about our needs and wants. Morelli had promised to respect my life choices and recognize that I was different to most people and shouldn’t be shoved into a Burg sized housewife hole and I had promised to get more training and work harder at being better at my job. It was going great so far, he was even taking me to the shooting range every weekend and then treating me to dinner out to celebrate afterwards because I was getting so much better. When my last car had been blown up by an unhappy skip Morelli hadn’t yelled or blamed me at all, just made sure I wasn’t hurt and supported me through the paperwork and statement process. I flicked on my hands-free to answer his call as the traffic started speeding up again.

“Hey Cupcake, want to order Chinese for dinner tonight?” Morelli’s voice slid over me making me feel things I shouldn’t feel when driving in bumper to bumper traffic.

“I forgot I had dinner at my parents tonight, my cousin Angelica has moved to town so we’re welcoming her to Trenton. Want to join us?”

“I think I remember her, little blonde thing that used to follow you everywhere when you were playing Wonder Woman?”

I laughed at the memories that brought up. “Yeah I last saw her when she was about 4 or 5 and I was 11, her family moved to Australia for her dads work and I haven’t heard from her since. Although she moved back to the US on a cheerleading scholarship for college she hasn’t been to visit before today, I think she might have a job in New Jersey somewhere.”

“Well I’m finished up for the day now so will meet you at your parents’ house shortly.”

I narrowed my eyes at how easily he agreed to coming along, usually I had to bargain to get him to join me. “What am I missing? Why did you agree to come without putting up a fight?” I demand to know.

“Two words cupcake ‘cheerleading scholarship’.” I scowled at the phone as laughter filled the car. “See you in 15.” Morelli called as I hung up on him. I know he was just joking around but I wasn’t ready to be compared to another perfect family member, God knows I had to deal with that plenty growing up with Valerie around.

I pulled up to the house the same time as Morelli, my mother and grandma waiting at the door. I looked at the clock, 5:59pm, whew I wasn’t going to be responsible for burning dinner. Just as I got out and greeted Morelli we heard a _voosh_ changing of gears as a red Mustang pulled into the street and then parked abruptly behind Morelli’s car.

A smile took over my face as a bouncy beautiful blonde popped out of the driver’s seat waving enthusiastically at me. Yep, almost exactly like a Barbie.

“Steph! Steph! It’s so good to see you again!” She squealed as she ran up and gave me a hard hug. I couldn’t help but laugh as I hugged her back.

“I can’t believe you’re here Angel!” I exclaimed back using the nickname she had when we were younger. “It’s so good to see you too.” I stepped back to introduce Morelli. “This is Joe Morelli, my boyfriend.”

“Hi nice to meet you…” Morelli started before being pulled into a bear hug with Angel.

“Nice to meet you too Joe!” Angel looked like she was about to burst with happiness, she had always been so sunny as a toddler and it looked like that hadn’t changed. “I can’t believe I’m finally back.”

Morelli and I took hands smiling as we followed Angel up to the house where she was already hugging Grandma Mazur, they looked like they were dancing they were so excited. Angel’s cheerfulness was contagious. By the time we got inside Angel had greeted everyone with the same gusto and even my father was smiling.

We headed to the dining room while Angel and Grandma Mazur were chatting animatedly about the weather channel. My mother put the pot roast on the table and everyone dug in. No one said anything while we stuffed ourselves full of pot roast, mash potatoes, green beans and carrots drenched in gravy. Mary Alice was still being a horse and had her face down on the plate full of green beans. Everyone ignored her as we were used to it but I saw Angel looking over occasionally grinning at her.

“So how’s work going?” Grandma Mazur directed at me. “How’s that sexy Latino boss of yours? Wouldn’t mind seeing his package again, he’s got a good one, just as good as the men who perform at Ladies Night. You should let him know if he ever needs some money that they would take him in an instant!”

I must have looked like a goldfish the way my mouth was opening and closing not able to find a response to Grandma Mazur. My mother got up and moved the pot roast away from my father who was eyeing the carving knife with interest. Angie and Mary Alice started giggling, which made Albert start giggling between hiccups and then Angel who up until that point had a similar expression to mine started laughing also. Valerie just rolled her eyes and ate more mashed potato and gravy.

“Who’s this?” Angel asked once it had quietened down “Aunt Helen told me about your Bounty Hunting and I thought you did that for your cousin Vinnie, but he’s not Latino. And how does Grandma Mazur know what your boss’ package looks like?”

Morelli turned to me smiling “I don’t think I’ve heard this story.”

I sighed as I quickly explained “Ranger isn’t my boss he’s my sometimes partner when I’m going after dangerous skips, and he also runs his own security firm, and I consult for him from time to time helping with research or giving him a different perspective on a job. He was having a shower when Grandma Mazur walked in on him accidentally.”

“It wasn’t an accident!” Grandma Mazur piped up. “I knew he was in there and I wanted to see what the big fuss was all about. And now I know.”

My mother had her head in her hands by this point, muttering “Why me?” over and over, I guess she was upset that we weren’t making a decent impression on Angelica.

“Actually I wanted to ask your opinion Stephanie, on this new gun I bought.” Grandma Mazur said as she pulled a little compact S&W out pointing it across the table at us. “You don’t even need a purse for it it’s so small.” Joe jumped up immediately and run around the table to grab it, but before he could Grandma Mazur pulled the trigger and shot the pot roast off the table and onto the floor. A bit of meat fell out of Albert’s mouth as he gaped at where the pot roast had been.

“Let me take that Edna.” Joe said as he took the gun off a protesting Grandma Mazur.

“Can’t we just have one dinner where guns aren’t involved?” My mother demanded as she got up and went into the kitchen returning with the pineapple upside down cake and placed it on the table. We all helped ourselves before she got really mad and didn’t let any of us have any.

“This is really yummy Aunt Helen,” Angel said trying to distract her from the mess, “all the food was great, it’s been ages since I’ve had a decent meal.”

“Let me pack you up some left overs.” My mother said as she jumped up from the table taking dishes with her, Grandma Mazur got up to help her and Valerie went into the living room to feed the crying baby.

“Does that happen often here?” Angel stage whispered across the table to me.

“I guess probably more than usual.” I replied. “No one’s ever gotten hurt though so don’t worry.”

Joe snorted at that “Not for lack of trying.”

My father and the girls had migrated to the living room to watch TV, Albert had fallen asleep on his chair after finishing his piece of cake, mouth hanging open and drool sliding down his chin. It was just Joe, Angel and I left at the table. We talked a bit more about New Jersey and New York and things Angel should do while she was here.

“Where will you be based while you’re here Angel?” Joe asked as he helped himself to another slice of cake.

“I’m not sure, I haven’t found an apartment yet so I’m just going to stay at a hotel till I find somewhere I like, figure it all out from there. I only have one suitcase in my car so I don’t need anything big.”

“Why don’t you take over the lease on my apartment?” I asked the words flowing out of my mouth without me thinking. I then looked quickly at Morelli to see what his reaction was panic rising up in my chest.

He was just smiling and nodding in agreement. “It makes sense as you really live with me anyway, this way you won’t have to pay rent as well.” I had basically moved into Joe’s house, most of my clothes were there and Rex had a great spot on the kitchen bench. I still had my apartment but I hadn’t used it at all for the last month. Wow, big step.

Angel was smiling and nodding rapidly, “I would love to use your apartment Steph, thank you so much.”

“Well that’s decided then, you can use it as long as you need it.” I smiled back at Angel.

We all left dinner well fed and laden with bags of left overs waving goodbye to my mother and Grandma Mazur. Angel followed me to my apartment and I gave her the spare key after I had checked that there were no stalkers in the wardrobe or under the bed.

As I was leaving, I walked through the kitchen and noticed the toaster missing, “I’ll bring the toaster back for you in the morning.” I told Angel, I had taken it to Morelli’s as I’d broken his and then he bought a fancy new one that did 4 slices at once and my little one was pushed to the back of the cupboard.

“You don’t have to do that Steph, you’ve done so much for me already.”

“Of course I’ll bring it back, how are you supposed to have breakfast without a toaster?” was my reply as I left the apartment. And it was another good excuse not to go after Cooper in the morning.

I drove to Joe’s house and he was watching a basketball game when I got in, Bob tackled me in the entrance and I spent a few moments hugging him and telling him about my day. Joe turned the TV off and took the leftovers from me and put them in the fridge before directing me towards the stairs, one look into his bedroom eyes had all the blood rushing to my doodah and for the first time ever I voluntarily ran up a flight of stairs. I stripped my clothes as I went so when I got to the bed I was naked and I lay sexily across it. Joe followed me into the room holding my clothes and shutting the door behind him.

“Bob will eat your clothes if you leave them out there cupcake.” He pulled his shirt off and climbed on top of me. I gasped at the roughness of his hard-on rubbing his jeans against my core, I wrapped my legs around him increasing the friction almost orgasming right then and there.

Joe pulled back and I whined at the space between us trying to pull him back down. His sexy chuckle nearly pushed me over the edge again as he slipped a hand between us, undoing his belt and pants while brushing his clever fingers over my clit at the same time. All of a sudden he flipped us over and I was sitting on top as he rolled a condom down the length of him. I rolled my hips gently rubbing myself against him driving us both closer to the edge, without warning Joe grabbed my hips and lifted me up onto his tip and slid me down excruciatingly slow. It was enough to push me over and into climax.

Joe set a fast pace lifting me up and down when my legs were too shaky from my first orgasm, however I was quickly reaching my peak for the second time and I lent down to crush my lips to Joe’s as he slid a hand between us again to rub my clit.

“Come with me cupcake I’m almost there.” He murmured in my ear.

One last thrust and we were both over the edge into oblivion. I rolled off Joe sated and blissful, he got up to get rid of the condom and then snuggled back into bed with me. I passed out pressing kisses to his lips as he purred “I love you” in my ear.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Plum or any of the characters in the Stephanie Plum series, that honour belongs to Janet Evanovich who is the most amazing author; I own nothing in the Plum universe except Angel.
> 
> First time writing anything so please read and review. Based around the early twenties in the book series when Stephanie and Morelli are quite serious and Ranger isn’t so much a romantic interest just a good friend, veers off on its own a bit.
> 
> Rated explicit for language and smut

**CHAPTER TWO**

 

I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing with a satisfied smirk on my face, Joe had already left for work an hour ago kissing me gently before he went. I groaned as I rolled over the bed to the side table and grabbed my phone. I read the caller ID as I answered with a grunt.

“Babe.”

“Babe yourself. You better have a good reason for calling me so early.”

Ranger chuckled down the phone at me. “It’s 8am babe, not early. Morelli keep you up past your bedtime last night?”

 I sighed as I sat up on the edge of the bed, obviously wasn’t going to get a sleep in liked I’d hoped. Ranger and I used to have a relationship filled with sexual tension and innuendos. Since Joe and I had decided to give us a serious try I had talked to Ranger and surprisingly he had completely backed off fully supporting my decision. Now our relationship was more like really good friends with a side of mentor/apprentice.

“What can I help you with Ranger? You need me to stop by?”

“Yeah we have a job that your input would be appreciated on. Can you come by this morning?”

“I have a skip to pick up and I have to drop my toaster off at my apartment for my cousin so I can come in after that.”

“Your cousin’s at your apartment?”

“Yeah she arrived last night and is taking over the lease on my apartment while she looks for her own place.”

“Oh the cheerleader.”

I scowled at the phone, “Did you bug me again? I can’t believe you would do that after our discussion about respect and trust!”

Laughter vibrated through the phone. “No babe, one of the guys has a finger in the Burg grapevine and heard all about the sexy blonde visiting. Apparently she is your cousin and had a cheerleading scholarship through college.”

“Oh, well sorry I accused you so quickly” I apologised.

“See you later babe, I’ll tell Ella to plan for you for lunch.” And Ranger hung up.

I got ready and grabbed my toaster heading over to my apartment. Mrs Bestler was playing Elevator Operator and took me up to my floor. I stopped at the door as I was about to put the key in and knocked instead. I didn’t want to invade on Angel’s space now that I’d offered it to her. The door opened wide and Angel gave me a big smile. She was wearing hot pink sketchers, jeans, a hot pink t-shirt with the girl from Tangled on it (I watched the movie with my nieces, don’t judge me), her blonde hair waving over her shoulders and down her back. I was grabbed into a hug as Angel greeted me.

“Steph! You don’t have to knock it’s your apartment. You’re always welcome here anytime.”

I hugged her back, enjoying her wave of happiness “I brought the toaster for you.”

We went into the kitchen and Angel plugged it in on the bench. I pulled some Butterscotch Krimpets out of the cupboard and offered one to Angel.

“Oh this is yum.” Angel exclaimed, “I’ve never had this before.”

I think my eyes bugged out of my head so far they could’ve fallen out. “You’ve never had Tasty Kakes before? They’re like a staple of my diet.” Angel and I went on to talk about our plans and when I talked about finding Cooper Angel got really excited.

“Can I come along? Please Steph it sounds like so much fun. I could be helpful, like a Bounty Hunter intern.”

“It can be quite dangerous, especially this skip because he’s charged with assault and battery.”

“I’ll be safe, I could even be helpful as I’ve got 20 years martial arts training.”

I turned to look disbelievingly at Angel, she obviously saw my doubt as she began listing all the techniques she had practiced.

“Judo, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Muay Thai and of course Krav Maga are the main ones I’ve done throughout the years. It’s a big hobby for me I really enjoy it and it keeps me fit.”

“I thought cheerleading would keep you fit?”

“Oh I just did that to get my mother off my back about being shy and getting out of the library. She was scared that I would be too smart for any boy to want to marry me.” Angel laughed at this point and I joined in. Not that I was ever concerned about my mother being worried that I was too smart for boys, she just worried about me being strange.

“OK you can come along.” I agreed. “But you have to do as I say.”

Angel nodded emphatically as we left the apartment, grabbing her leather jacket and aviators on the way out. I was impressed that she didn’t bother putting any make up on, not even mascara. But I guess if I had a face like that I wouldn’t bother either.

While Angel read the FTA paperwork I called Lula on the way over and she was still sick so it was just the 2 of us going after Cooper. As we pulled up outside his apartment just off Stark Street I got out and went to Big Blue’s trunk. Angel watched on in interest as I strapped on my gun holster and utility belt with stun gun, Maglite, cuffs, pepper spray, back up stun gun and back up cuffs.

“Wow, you’re a badass Steph.” She said to me. I smiled as I closed the boot and grabbed the FTA paperwork for Cooper and we headed into the apartment building.

Cooper was on the second level, I got Angel to stand in front of the peephole, I was somewhat infamous around Trenton, no way Cooper wouldn’t open the door to her, he would probably think he won the lottery to see her standing on his doorstep. I banged the door loudly so that he would get woken up. No way is a gangbanger up before 10am by choice. After a few moments the door swung wide and Cooper in a black singlet and blue boxer shorts stood there staring at Angel.

“Hey baby how you doing?” He said at Angel his leering eyes undressing her zoning in on her impressive bust that was hidden behind her pink Disney t-shirt.

“Thomas Cooper my name is Stephanie Plum and I work for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds.” I announced to Cooper. “You missed your court date and we need to take you down to the courthouse to get re-bonded out again.”

“Fuck.” Cooper exclaimed as he tried to slam the door in our faces, luckily I’d already placed my Doc Martin covered foot in the entry so he couldn’t and I followed him into the apartment with Angel close on my heels. Cooper ran past a scared woman to the far end of the room and looked like he was trying to get out on the fire escape but the window was sealed shut. I heard Angel stop and whisper to the woman about packing a bag and getting out of here. Cooper whirled around and dove to a drawer near the window and pulled a gun out pointing it at us.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” He screamed at us waving the gum between Angel and I.

I barely had time to pull my gun from my holster when a blonde blur ran past me and I saw Angel jump and kick Cooper dead in the chest with both feet, driving him back and though the window smashing it. He landed on the fire escape and then continued rolling and fell off and into the large dumpster below. Angel and I popped our heads out of the window and looked down. Cooper’s arms were flapping limply and his groaning wafted up to us, as did the smell of the garbage he was lying in.

I turned and looked at Angel in disbelief. “Who’s the badass now?” I said.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cooper’s girlfriend, with 2 bags packed full, scuttle out of the apartment.

“I didn’t see nothing.” She called as she ran down the stairs. We watched as she threw the bags into a rusted Nissan and took off, not even looking at Cooper still in the dumpster.

“Good on her.” Angel said smiling.

“Well we better go get him and take him in.” I said to Angel and we headed out, I secured the apartment behind us and when we got to the dumpster we both stepped back from the smell.

“No way I’m going near that.” Angel said as she waved a hand in front of her face trying to chase the smell away. “I’m only the intern.”

I sighed and I got ready to climb up onto the edge but just as grabbed it Cooper tumbled over the lip and fell on the ground, he then started trying to sit up while mumbling under his breathe incoherently. I grabbed both his hands and secured them in cuffs behind his back. He was obviously still dazed as he put up no protest as I directed him to Big Blue and he waited with Angel while I went through the trunk and found a sheet I could put across the backseat so the garbage still on him wouldn’t rub off on the upholstery.

Angel cocked her head at me, probably wondering why I had a sheet.

“Always be prepared.” I recited to her laughter.

The drive to the courthouse was uneventful and when we took Cooper in to the booking officer Robyn at the precinct Big Dog and Carl showed up.

“What? This has to be the first time you’ve ever shown up with a perp covered in garbage but you’re still clean and tidy.” Said Carl.

“Must be some sort of record.” Big Dog mused. Then they both realized that Angel was there and their mouths dropped open.

“Hi I’m Carl and this is my partner Big Dog.” Carl recovered first extending his hand to shake Angels.

“I’m Angelica, Steph’s cousin. Call me Angel.”

“Yes, yes you are.” Big Dog said still holding onto Angel’s hand. She gave a friendly laugh and pulled her hand away.

I took the body receipt from Robyn, rolling my eyes at the cops’ antics and laced my arm through Angels as we headed for the car.

“I have to stop in at Rangeman for a bit do you want to come along or can I drop you off somewhere?” I asked Angel.

“Is it alright with you if I come along? I would be interested to meet your mentor since I’m a Bounty Hunter intern.”

I laughed at this. “I don’t think we can keep calling you an intern after that performance. If you’re interested in doing this more often we can talk to Vinnie and make you my partner.”

“Ohmigod that would be amazing!” Angel started jumping up and down in her seat. “It would be so much fun.”

“Sometimes it’s a bit slow and the money coming in isn’t that much but if you help me take down every skip quickly we will be able to get through more FTAs and make more.”

“Money isn’t really an issue for me.” Angel confessed. “I just want to have fun.”

“OK then, think about it. However you can’t kick all the skips out of windows, we can’t go around hurting them if there isn’t any cause. But of course in this instance it was different, he pulled a gun on us, it won’t always be like that.”

Angel was nodding in agreement as we pulled up to Rangeman Headquarters. I used my fob to let us into the garage and park. As we jump in the elevator and I press the button for the Rangeman main office floor and I wonder if I should have given Angel a heads up first about the guys then shrug it off. If she really wants to be my partner she’ll have to work with them and it will be interesting to see if she freaks out over them, especially Hector.

The elevator doors open onto the office floor and I cover my mouth with my hand to stop from giggling. The Rangeman guys obviously saw us in the video feed and want to meet Angel, they had placed themselves strategically around the pathway to Ranger’s office so we would have to squeeze past them. Bobby was first at the doorway pretending to need to use the elevator, but he hadn’t pressed either the up or down buttons as the door closed behind us.

“Hey bomber didn’t know you were coming in today.” Bobby directed at me but was looking at Angel. “Having trouble with a skip?”

“No we did a take down this morning with no trouble. Ranger asked that I stop by for an assist. This is my cousin Angelica who just moved to Trenton. She’s helping me out and considering being my partner.”

Angel shook Bobby’s hand smiling shyly, she didn’t seem to know where to look. I know the feeling but had gotten used to so many gorgeous hunky men around I didn’t get as distracted as I used to.

“Nice to meet you I’m Bobby. I’m the team medic, let me know if you need anything seen to,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, “sometimes it’s a bit hazardous being around Steph.”

“Thanks I will.” Angel replied smiling charmingly, Bobby’s flirtation seemingly going over her head as she followed me past him. I introduced her to the other guys converged on the entry way as we past Lester, Hal, Ram, Cal, Vince, Zero, Binkie and Hector they all introduced themselves and managed to say something funny or flirty to Angel. She was very cheerful with all of them but I could tell she was a bit out of her depth with all the male attention. It was sweet actually to see someone who was so stunning so naïve about their effect on men. I was also very impressed that she didn’t falter when Hector introduced himself and she saw his gang tattoo teardrop.

We finally made our way to Ranger’s office and Tank opened the door and motioned for Angel and I to enter. He glared at the rest of the guys still standing around and they quickly went back to work at their desks before stepping back in and closing the door.

“Tank, Ranger, this is Angelica my cousin who’s helping me out with picking up some skips.”

“Call me Angel.” She smiled as she shook both Tank and Rangers hands before turning to me. “I can wait elsewhere if you would like to talk in private?”

I saw when she turned around that both Tank and Ranger were checking her out and liking what they saw. They just grinned cheekily at me when they saw that I had caught them out.

“No need.” Ranger said “If you’re helping Steph out then you might just be the person we need.”

Wow now he’s talking in code again. Tank gestured for us to sit on the couch while he lent up against the doorway, Ranger sat back down in his office chair. “We need your help with a job we have, this one is probably the most dangerous yet so please think it through before you agree to go ahead. Due to the circumstances of this case we are in extreme need of a woman.”

“Ranger if you need a distraction you know I’m happy to happy out.” I said wondering why he was being so careful.

“Babe it’s not a distraction as such, it’s more like a lure. We need to lure the mark away from his friends, family and bodyguards to make it look like he ran off. So we can’t go in guns blazing, none of them can know that we were responsible. We need someone unknown to go in and get him out without arousing suspicion.”

“Well I don’t think I can do it then Ranger, they only need to show a picture of me anywhere to get a name and then they would find all the news articles on me and the whole op would be blown.” And then it all clicked in my head and I looked at Angel, she looked like she’d figured it out.

“You want me to be the bait?” Angel asked.

“We were going to ask Steph if she could think of any ways around it or any other plans or perhaps if she could go in disguise.” Tank replied.

Ranger continued. “But since you’re showing an interest in working with Steph and you fit the bill exactly as to what the mark would fall for we would really appreciate you working with us on this.”

“I’m in!” Angel declared, leaning back against the couch crossing her legs and putting her arms above her head, accidentally drawing both male pairs of eyes to how that move made her chest jut out even more. “It sounds like fun.”

“How about you read the dossier first?” I said to Angel as Tank grabbed the file off the desk and passed it to her.

Then I turned back to Ranger, “If Angel goes in I want to be there.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way babe” He replied, “Read the file tonight Angelica and we’ll see you tomorrow morning for a briefing if you want to continue.” He looked sideways at me, “Both of you.”

“Bring your exercise gear as well.” Tank said to me as we left the room and headed to the elevator. “You owe me some training time.”

I huffed at this, even though I knew I needed to train I still hated it. Then I decided to be a bit naughty.

“Angel you should bring your gear too. You can teach me that move you pulled today.” I said.

“You can fight?” Ranger said to Angel sounding surprised.

“What you think a little white girl can’t beat you up?” I taunted Tank and Ranger. I know I was playing with fire but it was fun, and Angel could have fun with the hunky Rangeman men. “She kicked our perp out of the second storey window this morning and he would have been over 250 pounds.”

“He had a gun!” Angel exclaimed, “and there was a fire escape right there.”

Ranger and Tank were both grinning broadly at Angel now as she justified her actions to them.

“See you tomorrow boys.” I said with a smirk as the elevator doors closed.

I drove Angel back to my no her apartment telling her all about Ranger and his Merry Men. I dropped her off promising to pick her up in the morning for our session at Rangeman.

I stopped in at Pino’s on the way home to Joe’s and got us dinner, it was going to be an early night.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Plum or any of the characters in the Stephanie Plum series, that honour belongs to Janet Evanovich who is the most amazing author; I own nothing in the Plum universe except Angel.
> 
> First time writing anything so please read and review. Based around the early twenties in the book series when Stephanie and Morelli are quite serious and Ranger isn’t so much a romantic interest just a good friend, veers off on its own a bit.
> 
> Rated explicit for language and smut

**CHAPTER THREE**

 

The next morning I woke up early with Joe content and happy. While he got into the shower I started the coffee before heading back up to jump in after him. Although sharing a shower might save water it definitely wouldn’t save time. We both went our separate ways shortly after sharing breakfast together. I drove to Angel’s and gave her a call to let her know I was in the parking lot, although she probably heard Big Blue before I even got into the parking lot it was so loud. She popped out of the front door minutes later dressed in black ¾ workout pants, hot pink tank top and hot pink runners. She had a black backpack which I assumed had her day clothes and shower gear in. I was dressed in my exercise gear too but my black shorts and green t-shirt didn’t really make me feel as confident as gear like hers would. Once the check cleared from yesterday’s skip I was going workout clothes shopping.

“Good Morning Steph!” she called as she got close enough to the car.

“You’re way too bouncy for first thing in the morning.” I replied sipping my second cup of coffee, I’d downed my first when Joe had brought it to me in the shower. Angel just laughed as she jumped in and we took off for Rangeman.

When we arrived I took us to the gym floor instead of up to the offices. I’d called Ranger on the way he confirmed that working out first was the best idea. I also thought it would be good to avoid all of Rangeman checking out Angel in her gear. As keen as I was to set her up I didn’t want to have her overrun with admirers, I was pretty sure that would make her run in the other direction.

Tank was on the only one in the gym when we entered hammering a punching bag, dressed in black shorts and a black singlet, we called hello as we set our gear down. Angel headed straight for the treadmill starting a really fast pace putting her hair up into a high pony tail as she ran, if I tried that I’d fall over in a second. Instead of joining Angel on the treadmills I started doing some stretches trying to limber up for my torture session with Tank.

After a few minutes Tank wandered over to me his eyes however were on Angel on the treadmill. “Ready to get started Bomber?”

I sighed in return, “Sure, if I have too.” Tank just laughed in reply as I followed him to the mats. “How are you not sweating?” I asked, “I saw how hard and fast you were beating that bag, you’re not even out of breath!”

It was his turn to sigh as he turned to look at me. “It’s called being fit, something Ranger and I have been trying to explain to you for a long time.”

“Being fit is overrated.” I responded slightly tetchily, “I understand self-defence and all that but I will never need to run for an hour. If a skip took off for that long I’d take my car.”

Tank just rolled his eyes at me and we got started going through all the moves we’d done in the past to make sure I remembered everything. Once we’d done that it had been about half an hour and I was exhausted. Angel got off the treadmill to go for a drink, she didn’t even look tired or sweaty only glowing slightly. Whereas I was now lying on the ground gasping and soaked in sweat.

“Time for some new moves now Bomber.” Tank ordered, he looked over to Angel who was now stretching. “Want to take over for a bit Angelica?”

“Sure Tank, and call me Angel.” She said as she bounded over to the mats. I just groaned at her, damn fit people.

“Alright so I saw what Tank was working on you with and the first thing I think you need to start utilizing is your speed. From what I’ve seen you’re much smaller than a lot of your skips so you need to make the most of your size and be faster. A couple of things to note if you’re going to fight don’t have your hair in a tail.” She pointed at my pony tail and then at hers. “It’s the easiest thing for your opponent to grab.” She quickly twisted her hair into a bun as she talked. “Always try to have it in a bun or twist or hanging loose. Secondly loose clothing is also an issue, easy for your perp to grab hold of, try wearing more fitting clothing especially on your upper body. If you’re uncomfortable doing that then wear a loose jacket or similar but never have it done up, so if it’s grabbed you can slip out of it easily.”

“Seriously? My clothing is that much of an issue?” I interrupt.

A mischievous grin spreads across Angel’s face as she considers my question.

“OK here’s what we’ll do, you have to stay in the mat area and Tank will try catch you, if you avoid capture for 1 minute you can ignore me.” Tank chuckles as he looks between us, Angel backs off the mats and looks up at the clock. “Steph your 1 minute starts in 3, 2, 1, now!”

I’d been moving away from Tank and I realised that I had reached the edge of the mats when Angel yelled ‘now’ Tank came barrelling towards me and I did the first thing I could think of which was duck and roll. I got up behind him and tried to take off when I was yanked backwards against a hard body. Tank had a firm grip of my t-shirt and shook it to let me know.

“I don’t even know if that was 5 seconds bomber.” Tank smirked at me.

“That’s not fair.” I complained to Angel. “He’s so big I would never have a chance anyway.”

Tank looked over as Angel came to join us. “Alright my turn, Steph you’re in charge of the time count.” She walked over to Tank and stood no more than a yard away. Tank has a massive grin on his face, I’ve never seen him this happy. Probably ecstatic with the idea of getting Angel in his arms.

“OK 3, 2, 1, now!” I shout as the clock ticks on the minute. I watch as Tank steps forward and swings his arms in to grab Angel, she neatly ducks and sidesteps coming up to the left of Tank still no more than a yard away. He turns assessing and this time goes for a tackle as he leaps towards her, this time she dodges him completely and dances away. I observe for 3 minutes as I’m so involved I forget to watch the time. Every move Tank makes Angel evades, dodges, sidesteps and even ducks onto the ground and slides between his legs one time. He looks like he’s going to catch her so often, his fingers even grazing her clothing a number of times but he never does. “TIME!” I call when I look up at the clock and realize I’ve gone way over.

Tank and Angel stop and they bump fists as they turn and walk towards me. “Tank how often would you say you were close to catching me?” Angel asks him but looks at me.

“Every single time.” Tank answers looking at me also.

“And if I had loose clothing on how many times do you think you would have caught me?”

“Almost every time, being able to grab hold of something makes it much easier.”

Angel turns to me and raises a single eyebrow in question.

I hold up my hands in submission. “Alright alright I’ll change my wardrobe when I’m chasing down FTAs. You’ve proven your point. Now teach me to do what you did.”

“Well that brings me to my third point, cardio. I know you hate it and mostly everyone does when they start out, but it’s important. If you’re fighting for your life not only do you want to have the muscle memory to be able to fight back but the fitness to keep going till you don’t have to.” Angel studied my face which I’m sure showed a pout. “Don’t worry I’ll show you fun ways to get your cardio training each day, you won’t have to run that often.”

Once I agreed to Angel’s 3 points she started showing me throws which I first practiced with her and then with Tank. We did this for almost an hour before finishing up. Before Tank and Angel could leave I asked the question I’d been wondering since yesterday and was the whole point for me asking Angel to coach me.

“So Angel, could you beat Tank in a fight?”

I watched Tank freeze from where he was heading off the mats and turn to glare at me. It was scary, I took a step behind Angel who was looking at him in amusement before he turned back around and walked off.

“Of course.” She replied a slow smile spreading across her face as she turned to look at me. “Maybe if you’re good at your training and make a real effort with cardio I’ll show you.”

We went up to Rangers apartment to shower and change (Angel also sighed over the smell of his Bulgari body wash although she didn’t use it), before heading to the main office floor. We met the core team of Tank, Bobby, Lester, Hector, Vince, Woody and Hal in the conference room. Angel hadn’t met Woody before and he turned on the Southern Gentleman charm and had Angel sitting next to him at the meeting table giggling at his terrible jokes. The rest of the team except Tank were trying to get her attention also.

Ranger walked in and everyone but Angel and I jumped to attention. “Babe, Angelica thanks for being here.” He said nodding at each of us.

“Call me Angel.” She replied.

Ranger looked at her for a few more moments making her squirm a little bit. So this is what it was like to be an outsider of Ranger’s stare, I thought I might be upset when this day came but I was fine. I felt the temperature in the room heat up a little as the rest of the team realized that they might have to deal with the boss when competing for Angel’s attention.

Over the rest of the day we ran through all the information about the operation and the mark. Giovanni Ferrante was the son of a well know higher up in the mob, late 30s and extremely good looking but unmarried. Giovanni had been getting into a little bit of trouble lately and had been sent away by the family to San Francisco for a shake-up. Unfortunately he had come back with contacts for guns, drugs and other items we didn’t have intel on. There was an open warrant on him but no local authorities were moving on it as it would likely start a war. The op was to kidnap him but make it look like he ran away with his connections and new money like he didn’t want to share it with the family. The hope was that the organisation that we were passing him on to (classified) would be able to persuade him to flip and give up the suppliers.

We talked out the strategy multiple times and from multiple angles, once I was happy that Angel would be safe (mostly), and we had thought of all the contingencies I was ready to sign off on it. We had 5 days till we could move on it so there was plenty of time for the rest of the team to look over the plan and find holes.

As Angel and I were leaving at the end of the day Vince ran out and grabbed us at the elevator.

“Hey girls what are you up to tomorrow? A few of us have the day off and we were going to try the new rides at Casino Pier. I thought it would be fun for Angel being she’s new to the area.”

I looked at Angel and she appeared excited by this idea, and by that I mean that she was bouncing on the balls of her feet and had clasped her hands together.

“Sounds good Vince, we’ll meet you there around 11?” I replied.

“See you then girls!” We waved good bye as the elevator doors shut.

I drove Angel back to the apartment and because Joe had called saying he had to work late we ordered take out and watched Ghostbusters. When the movie finished I forced myself up and off the couch and went home.

Angel was going to pick me up tomorrow morning and I would then navigate her to Casino Pier. I hoped because it wasn’t a weekend or holidays we wouldn’t have to deal with many kids. Snuggling into bed with Bob on the end I passed out, not even waking when Joe crawled in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post, this was supposed to be a fun chapter but it fought me every step of the way. But I’m so excited that people are reading this! I would love to hear your thoughts on the story or any ideas on what direction to would like it to go. I’ve got a general plan with a few big events but there’s lots of room for growth. Thanks again lovelies xoxox
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Plum or any of the characters in the Stephanie Plum series, that honour belongs to Janet Evanovich who is the most amazing author; I own nothing in the Plum universe except Angel.
> 
> Rated explicit for language and smut

  

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 

Being a passenger in Angel’s car was an experience, she drove like she was in a Fast and Furious movie, weaving in and out of cars and taking off really fast at the lights. When we got to Casino Pier in half the time it normally would take she slid the car sideways into a park right by the front entrance. It took me a moment to get my heart rate down, I didn’t know whether to fear for my life or be impressed, and probably I was a little bit of both.

We made our way to the entrance to line up when I heard my name called, we turned around to see Woody sticking his head out of a hidden door along the fence, he gestured for us to come over. When we slipped through I saw Vince, Lester and Bobby waiting next to a fairy floss vendor, Lester had a mass of pink, blue and yellow fairy floss on a stick that he’d already eaten half of. As they all greeted us I had to force my mind to move out of the dirty dirty thoughts that seeing these men in civvies brought up. Seriously these guys were sexy as hell in their Rangeman uniforms but in jeans and t-shirts they were making my mouth water. Sure I loved Joe 100%, but a woman would have to be dead not to enjoy looking at what was right in front of her.

“So what’s the plan?” I ask, munching on the rest of Lester’s fairy floss that I stole while he was distracted talking to Angel.

“We do security here occasionally for big events and have VIP passes for the day.” Bobby put a wristband on my and then Angel’s wrist, taking a bit longer getting Angel’s on right.

“No lines, no cost.” Vince said rather gleefully for a fully grown Italian man.

“Where to first?” Lester asks us, looking at Angel.

“I’ve never been here before, how about we start off with all of your favorite rides?” Angel looks at me, I nod in response as I finish the fairy floss and throw the stick in the bin.

After a rousing game of paper, scissors, rock, we went to Lester’s favorite ride which was the biggest roller-coaster in the park. Having the VIP passes meant we went to the front of the line and were in the front of the coaster, normally I like theme parks, but this coaster was scary. I swore that the carriage was going to fly off the rails a few times. I saw Angel two rows ahead of me at the very front of the coaster grabbing hold of Lester and screaming, at least I wasn’t the only one freaked out.

Throughout the day I saw a pattern emerge, the guys would paper, scissors, rock for who got to decide the next ride and then whoever won got to sit next to Angel. When I won and directed us to the Ghost Train I saw the guy arguing behind us, obviously they hadn’t planned on this contingency which made me giggle, a lot. When the train turned up I let Angel get on first and just as I was about to join her I was swung around disoriented and ended up sitting next to Lester with his arm around my shoulders.

“Sure you won’t mind sitting with me beautiful.” He moves his mouth closer to my ear and whispers “I owe Bobby and he just called it in, just go with the flow.”

I look up to see Bobby sitting in the front bench with Angel, his arm over the back of her seat and she was laughing at a joke he was telling. I just sighed and roll my eyes at Lester who grins and tugs my ponytail, obviously pleased I wasn’t going to complain.

Watching Angel during this ride was the funniest thing I’d seen in a long time. Here was a girl who could quite possibly fight men 3 times her size but when it came to paper-mache monsters she was screeching and trying to clamber over Bobby. I was having a fit laughing so hard that I didn’t have time to be frightened. Lester was crying he was laughing so hard, probably extremely pleased that Angel was throwing elbows and feet into Bobby as she tried to escape each new monster. It was not cute or cuddly which I imagine was what Bobby was hoping for.

After that we went to Woody’s favourite ride which was the log flume. Each log could fit 6 people so I managed to grab a back seat with Bobby (everyone knows the back gets the least wet), and somehow Angel ended up in the front next to Woody.

After we clambered out all the guys just couldn’t stop laughing, neither could I as both Woody and Angel were saturated. At least Angel was in a t-shirt and cut-offs, Woody in his jeans did not look comfortable at all. He squished off to get new clothes while I go with Angel to the ladies bathroom and she dried herself under the hand dryer.

“So what do you think of them?” I direct at Angel, trying to be sly. I can tell by her grin back that I’m not fooling her.

“They are a lot of fun but normally when someone sets me up it’s with one person not with four!” We both laugh.

“So do you think you’ll go on a date with any of them?” I ask, still prying.

“I think I’m more suited to being friends with them Steph, I didn’t really feel a spark with anyone.”

I hum in response, not unhappily but not happily either. “You interested in anyone else at Rangeman” and I see Angel flinch in response. “Oooo is it Ranger? Tank? Both?”

“Steph, I wouldn’t get with Ranger, that’s not appropriate being he’s your ex.”

“Angel I’m not worried about that, I love Joe and if you want to hook-up with Ranger then go do it. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings because you won’t.” I sigh and grab Angel’s face so she’s looking at me and knows I’m being honest. “I love Ranger as my best friend and I normally think that no girl is good enough for him but it’s the other way round with you. Also I think you would have a lot of fun with him.” Angel smiles shyly ducking her head down. “C’mon lets go join the others for a few drinks.” I pull Angel outside now that she’s mostly dry and we meet up with the others at a Wild West bar.

We spend the rest of the day laughing and drinking and eating with the guys and they seem to have realized that there isn’t any chemistry to be had with Angel and just enjoy messing around with her as a friend.

I ponder more about Ranger and Angel after dinner and I’m watching the TV with Joe. They would fit well together, but I am worried about Ranger’s lifestyle and whether Angel, as tough as she is, would actually be OK with that. I decide to wait and see if anything happens to decide then if I need to give Ranger the talk.

“You OK cupcake?” Joe pulls me closer and nuzzles my neck.

“I think Angel and Ranger might have a thing.”

Joe pulls back and looks at me worriedly. “And it bothers you because of your history with him? Or because it would be uncomfortable with your cousin sleeping with your ex?”

“No, no, of course not.” I declare pulling myself into Joe’s lap and grabbing his face so he can look into my eyes and see I’m telling the truth, just like I did earlier today to Angel. “I think Angel and Ranger would be really good together but I’m just concerned that their lives may be too different.”

Joe smirks as one hand snakes around my back and the other pulls my t-shirt out and he looks down my front. “She’s hot, he’s hot, and they’ll be hot together. Maybe a big hot mess but will be fun to watch.” He then renders me speechless as his mouth closes over my breast and his breath, cold from his beer, makes my nipple strain through my lacy bra and cotton t-shirt against his tongue. My panties are soaked instantly as he turns his dark bedroom eyes to me. “Sorry I interrupted you, what were we talking about?”

I smack him in the shoulder as he starts to draw away from me. “Discussion over Morelli. It’s bedtime.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Joe stands up still holding me bridal style now and carries me up the stairs. Displays of manly strength like this totally get me hotter so I had thrown off my top and my bra and undone my shorts by the time we got to the bedroom.

Joe dropped me on the bed and I managed to get my shorts and panties off and yank his shirt off before he was on top of me and we were making out. He ground himself against me and the combination of his hardness and the jean fabric against my softness was almost enough to push me over the edge. But then the sensation was gone.

“Come back!” I cried as he pulled away.

“So demanding.” He chuckled as he dragged his jeans off, licking his lips as he stood looking at me, leisurely stroking his cock.

“You’re not the only one who can be a tease.” I smirked at Joe as I slowly smoothed my hands down my body to my pussy. I rubbed my clit with two fingers as I drew my other hand up and started tweaking my nipple.

Joe’s eyes were so dark now I would’ve sworn they were black. He hurried over to the side table and pulled out a condom, ripping the wrapper with his teeth, he had it rolled down his length in no time at all and was towering over me replacing my fingers with his cock on my clit.

I gasped as the new friction pushed me up and over into an orgasm. I didn’t have any time to linger in the pleasant afterglow though as Joe flicked me up and over onto my hands and knees dragging me to the edge of the bed before he slammed into me.

We groaned in unison taking a moment to enjoy the feel of my tightness around his velvety member. Then he started a fast pace pounding into me, holding my hips for leverage as he thrust in and out. As Joe drove me closer to climax I heard someone screaming incoherently, oh wait that’s me.

As Joe and I both fell to the bed, shuddering as our orgasms hit us hard. I was lucid enough to feel the sheet being lifted over me and Joe pulling me into his arms when he got back into bed after disposing of the condom before I passed out.


End file.
